Quite frequently, music concerts and other events are given at Lotus Yoga by the Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre, a meditation group who practice according to the philosophy of Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy is an Indian born spiritual teacher and philosopher who spent much of his life sharing his inner experiences of meditation with seekers of truth in the West.
Born in India in 1931, Sri Chinmoy spent the first twenty years of his life in an ashram, or meditative community in South India, where spent long hours in meditation expanding his experiences of Truth. In 1964, he arrived in America, and in the following years began giving talks on spiritual philosophy and concerts of meditative music. In 1970 he was invited by the then UN Secretary General U Thant to hold meditations for the staff and delegates of the United Nations.
Sri Chinmoy's philosophy was that instead of retreating from the world in order to meditate, one could instead bring the peace and light that one got from meditation into all aspects of daily life, and he brought this philosophy to life on the strength of his own personal example. Over his lifetime, he made prolific contributions in many of the creative spheres - art, poetry, theatre and music. Sri Chinmoy's output in these fields was notable for its spontaneity, and the way it seemed to naturally flow from a deeper source within him, a source he had developed free access to through years of meditation. Indeed, Sri Chinmoy called his artistic output Jharna-Kala, or fountain-art in his native Bengali - art flowing straight from this inner core.
He was also a prolific athlete, and believed that sports provided an ideal forum for the fulfilment of one's unlimited potential. A sprinter in his youth, Sri Chinmoy turned to long-distance running in middle age, followed by weightlifting. He was the inspiring force behind the setting up of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in 1977, which has since grown into the largest organiser of endurance sporting events in the world.
At the time of his passing in October 2007, Sri Chinmoy left a legacy of 350 meditation centres in 30 countries all over the world, many of them offering introductory meditation classes to the general public on a regular basis. At Sri Chinmoy's request, his students give these classes free of charge, in the inner conviction that the peace and joy that meditation can bring is the birthright of every human being.
Related links:
- Sri Chinmoy's official website
- Sri Chinmoy Biography
- World Harmony Run - the Irish branch of an international grassroots movement founded by Sri Chinmoy
- About Sri Chinmoy - an Irish website set up by the Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre
